Instagram Follower Tracker

Instagram Follower Tracker — follower growth of any public account, run after run

The Instagram Follower Tracker records the public follower and following counts of Instagram accounts every time it runs and compares them with the previous run, so a scheduled run builds a growth history: followers gained or lost, percent change and followers per hour, plus the posts published since the last check.

It runs on Apify, needs no Instagram login and no cookies, and exports to JSON, CSV, Excel or an API call. Every session key it needs (tokens, query ids, cursors) is read from Instagram on each run, so it keeps working when Instagram ships new code.

What the Instagram Follower Tracker does

• Reads each public profile logged out and saves its counts in a named key-value store on your Apify account.
• Compares every account with the snapshot of the previous run: followers change, percent change, followers per hour and following change.
• Track new posts (optional): reports the posts published since the previous run, from Instagram's own post list; pinned posts never count as new.
• Webhook (optional): POSTs the changed accounts as JSON to your URL after each run; private, local and link-local addresses are refused.
• Keeps separate histories for separate lists: give each list its own snapshot store name.

Who uses the Instagram Follower Tracker

• Brands watching their own and their competitors' growth.
• Influencer agencies monitoring creators between campaigns.
• Analysts who need a daily follower time series.
• Teams that want an alert when an account posts.

How the Instagram Follower Tracker works

Instagram serves every public page to logged-out visitors together with the queries that fill it.

The Actor loads the page the way a browser does, reads the session values Instagram puts into it, and then asks Instagram's own GraphQL endpoint for the next page with the cursor the previous page returned.

Query ids that a page does not preload are read from the JavaScript bundles that page lists. Large files from Instagram's CDN (images, videos) are fetched directly with their signed links, so proxy traffic stays small.

Nothing is guessed: if Instagram stops publishing a value the Instagram Follower Tracker needs, the run log names it and the item is skipped instead of being filled with a stale value.

Input of the Instagram Follower Tracker

Field	Type	Default	What it does
usernames	array	["nasa", "natgeo"]	One per line: a username (nasa), an @handle (@nasa) or a profile URL (https://www.instagram.com/nasa/).
storeName	string	instagram-follower-tracker	Name of the key-value store that keeps the last snapshot of every account between runs. Use a different name for a separate tracking list.
trackNewPosts	boolean	False	Also report the posts published since the previous run (newPostsCount, newPosts). One extra request per account.
webhookUrl	string	—	POST the changed accounts as JSON to this http(s) URL after each run. Private and local addresses are refused.
webhookOnChangeOnly	boolean	True	Send the webhook only for accounts whose followers, following or posts changed.
maxItems	integer	0	Stops the run after this many account rows.
proxyConfiguration	object	{"useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"]}	Instagram limits logged-out visitors per IP address. Residential proxies (the default) give the most reliable results; the Actor switches to a fresh IP when Ins

Example input for the Instagram Follower Tracker:

{
  "usernames": [
    "nasa",
    "natgeo"
  ],
  "storeName": "instagram-follower-tracker",
  "webhookOnChangeOnly": true
}

Output of the Instagram Follower Tracker

Each dataset row is one account (its counts now and the change since the previous run). These are the fields the Instagram Follower Tracker produced in its test runs:

Field	Meaning
checkedAt	Time of this run
firstSnapshot	True on the first run of an account (baseline only)
followersChange	Followers gained (+) or lost (-) since the previous run
followersChangePercent	The same change in percent
followersCount	Followers
followersPerHour	Change per hour
followsChange	Change in accounts followed
followsCount	Accounts followed
fullName	Display name
highlightsCount	Story highlights on the profile
hoursSincePrevious	Hours between the two runs
id	Platform id of the item
inputUsername	The username or link as you entered it
isPrivate	Private account
isVerified	Verified badge
latestStoryAt	Time of the newest story
previousCheckedAt	Time of the previous run
previousFollowersCount	Followers at the previous run
previousFollowsCount	Following at the previous run
scrapedAt	When this row was read
snapshotStore	Key-value store that keeps the snapshots
url	Public link of the item
username	Account username
latestPostAt	Date of the newest post
newPosts	Those posts: link, date, caption, likes, comments
newPostsCount	Posts published since the previous run (with "Track new posts")

Fields that Instagram does not publish for an item are left empty rather than guessed. Download the dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or HTML, or read it through the Apify API.

Example row from a Instagram Follower Tracker test run

A real row from the local test run (long values shortened):

{
  "username": "nasa",
  "fullName": "NASA",
  "url": "https://www.instagram.com/nasa/",
  "followersCount": 104283167,
  "followsCount": 89,
  "highlightsCount": 5,
  "isVerified": true,
  "isPrivate": false,
  "latestStoryAt": "2026-10-02T20:53:37.000Z",
  "previousFollowersCount": null,
  "previousFollowsCount": null,
  "previousCheckedAt": null,
  "hoursSincePrevious": null,
  "followersChange": null,
  "followsChange": null,
  "followersChangePercent": null,
  "followersPerHour": null,
  "firstSnapshot": true,
  "snapshotStore": "instagram-follower-tracker",
  "inputUsername": "nasa",
  "checkedAt": "2026-10-03T08:31:34+00:00",
  "id": "528817151"
}

Data quality of the Instagram Follower Tracker

• Every value in a Instagram Follower Tracker row is read from Instagram during your run; nothing is filled from a cache or an old snapshot.
• Rows are de-duplicated by id inside a run, so the same account never appears twice in one dataset.
• Counts are numbers you can sort and sum (not "1.2K" text) wherever Instagram publishes the exact number.
• Dates are UTC in ISO 8601 format, which Excel, Google Sheets, Python and SQL all read directly.

Instagram Follower Tracker test results

These numbers come from live test runs of the Instagram Follower Tracker on 2026-10-03 (home connection, no proxy). Runs on the Apify platform use residential proxies and can be faster or slower.

Test	Rows	Time
prefill input (regression)	2	3 s
NEW new-post tracking + webhook	1	15 s

Instagram Follower Tracker limits, stated plainly

• The first run of an account only records the baseline (firstSnapshot true, change fields empty).
• Lists of new followers or unfollowers need a login and are not available; the counts are tracked instead.
• The total number of posts is not public logged out, so new posts are tracked from the newest 12.
• Measured locally: 2 accounts in 3 seconds; 75 seconds between two runs showed natgeo -18 followers and 2 new posts.

How to run the Instagram Follower Tracker

1. Open the Instagram Follower Tracker in Apify Console and fill in the input fields described above.
2. Keep the default residential proxy unless you have a reason to change it; Instagram limits logged-out visitors per IP address.
3. Start the run, watch the log, and download the dataset when the status says Done.
4. To automate it, call the Instagram Follower Tracker from the Apify API, schedule it, or connect it to Make, Zapier, n8n or Google Sheets through an integration or webhook.

Python example with the Apify API client:

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>")
run_input = {
    "usernames": [
        "nasa",
        "natgeo"
    ],
    "storeName": "instagram-follower-tracker",
    "webhookOnChangeOnly": True
}
run = client.actor("neuro-scraper/instagram-follower-tracker").call(run_input=run_input)
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

Instagram Follower Tracker pricing

The Instagram Follower Tracker uses pay-per-event pricing: you pay per dataset row (event "result"), plus the Apify platform usage of your run. Free-plan users get up to 30 rows per run, which is enough to test the Instagram Follower Tracker on real data.

Set a maximum cost per run in Apify and the Instagram Follower Tracker stops cleanly when it is reached.

Tips for large runs of the Instagram Follower Tracker

• Start with a small limit to check the Instagram Follower Tracker output, then raise it; the first rows arrive within seconds.
• Split very large jobs into several inputs and run them in parallel tasks; each run gets its own proxy sessions.
• Set a maximum cost per run in Apify; the Instagram Follower Tracker stops cleanly when the budget is reached and keeps every row it already saved.
• Schedule repeat runs instead of one huge run when you track the same targets over time.
• Keep the residential proxy: datacenter IPs are refused by Instagram far more often for logged-out visitors.

Instagram Follower Tracker compared with copying by hand

	Instagram Follower Tracker	Manual work
Speed	Seconds per page of results	Minutes per item
Fields	Every public field, same order every time	Whatever you copy
Format	JSON, CSV, Excel, API	Spreadsheet you build yourself
Repeatable	Schedule it daily	Start again each time
Errors	Logged per item	Unnoticed typos

Using the Instagram Follower Tracker in a workflow

• Send every new row to Google Sheets or Airtable with the Apify integration and keep a live table.
• Trigger a Make, Zapier or n8n scenario with a webhook when the run finishes.
• Load the JSON export into Python or BigQuery for analysis and dashboards.
• Use the Apify API: start the Instagram Follower Tracker with a POST request and read the dataset items endpoint when the run finishes.
• Chain it: pass the Instagram Follower Tracker output to another Apify Actor (for example a downloader or a transcript Actor) in an Apify task.
• Export straight to Excel from the dataset tab when you only need a one-off report.

Troubleshooting the Instagram Follower Tracker

• The run ends with no rows: open the log. The Instagram Follower Tracker writes one line per target saying what Instagram returned, for example a login wall or a missing item.
• Fewer rows than expected: the target may have fewer public items, or Instagram may stop serving more pages to logged-out visitors. The log names the reason.
• Slow run: large limits mean many pages; the Instagram Follower Tracker waits briefly between pages so Instagram keeps answering. Split big jobs into several runs.
• Proxy errors: keep the RESIDENTIAL group. The Instagram Follower Tracker already switches to a fresh IP when one is blocked.
• Free plan stops at 30 rows: that is the free-plan cap of the Instagram Follower Tracker; any paid Apify plan removes it.

What is in this first version of the Instagram Follower Tracker

• Built in October 2026 on Instagram's logged-out web endpoints; every token, query id and cursor is read at run time.
• Its options and fields were compared with the top 10 Instagram Actors of its kind on the Apify Store; everything that works logged out is included.
• Residential proxy by default, with automatic switch to a fresh IP when Instagram blocks one.

Is it legal to use the Instagram Follower Tracker?

The Instagram Follower Tracker reads only data that Instagram shows to any logged-out visitor. It never logs in and never touches private content.

Personal data may still be in public posts, so check GDPR and the other laws that apply to you before you store or reuse it, and respect Instagram's terms.

Related scrapers

Actor	Link
Instagram Scraper	neuro-scraper/instagram-video-scraper
Instagram Profile Scraper	neuro-scraper/instagram-reels-scraper-downloader-pro
Instagram Posts Scraper	neuro-scraper/instagram-posts-scraper
Instagram Reels Scraper	neuro-scraper/instagram-reels-scraper
Instagram Hashtag Scraper	neuro-scraper/instagram-reeel-scraper
Instagram Comments Scraper	neuro-scraper/instagram-reels-scraper-and-downloader-premium
Instagram Search Scraper	neuro-scraper/instagram-video-scraper-advanced
Instagram Video Downloader	neuro-scraper/instagram-video-downloader
Instagram Reels Downloader	neuro-scraper/instagram-reels-downloader
Instagram Image Downloader	neuro-scraper/instagram-video-scraper-and-downloader
Instagram Transcript Scraper	neuro-scraper/instagram-video-scraper-and-downloader-pro
Instagram Mentions Scraper	neuro-scraper/instagram-video-scraper-and-downloader-premium

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Frequently asked questions

How do I get a daily follower history with the Instagram Follower Tracker?

Create an Apify schedule that runs the Instagram Follower Tracker once a day with the same snapshot store name. Each run compares every account with the previous run and keeps the result in its dataset.

Can the Instagram Follower Tracker list who followed or unfollowed?

No. Instagram shows follower lists only to logged-in users. The Instagram Follower Tracker tracks the public counts and the new posts.

Does the Instagram Follower Tracker need my Instagram login?

No. The Instagram Follower Tracker works logged out and never asks for your password or cookies. It reads only what Instagram shows to any visitor.

Do I need my own proxy for the Instagram Follower Tracker?

No. The Instagram Follower Tracker uses Apify residential proxies by default and switches to a fresh IP when Instagram blocks one. You can choose another proxy in the input.

What formats can I export from the Instagram Follower Tracker?

JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, HTML and RSS from the dataset tab, or any format through the Apify API, webhooks and integrations.

How fast is the Instagram Follower Tracker?

In the test runs above the Instagram Follower Tracker took between 3 and 15 seconds per run. Speed depends on how many items you ask for and on the proxy.

Why did the Instagram Follower Tracker return fewer rows than I asked for?

The Instagram Follower Tracker stops when Instagram has nothing more to show logged out, when your limit is reached, or when the free-plan cap of 30 rows applies. The run log always says which one happened.

Can I schedule the Instagram Follower Tracker?

Yes. Create a schedule in Apify Console to run the Instagram Follower Tracker daily or hourly and send the results to Google Sheets, Make, Zapier or n8n through an integration.

Can the Instagram Follower Tracker read private accounts or private groups?

No. The Instagram Follower Tracker reads public data only. Private content needs a login, and the Instagram Follower Tracker never logs in.

What happens when Instagram changes its website?

The Instagram Follower Tracker reads every key it needs from Instagram at run time, so routine changes are picked up automatically. If something can no longer be read, the log says so instead of returning wrong data.

Can I use the Instagram Follower Tracker with Make, Zapier or n8n?

Yes. Add the Instagram Follower Tracker as an Apify step in Make, Zapier or n8n, or send a webhook when the run finishes and fetch the dataset items from the Apify API.

Does the Instagram Follower Tracker work in every country?

The Instagram Follower Tracker reads Instagram through residential proxies that rotate across countries. Content that Instagram restricts by country follows those rules.

How do I collect only new items with the Instagram Follower Tracker?

Schedule the Instagram Follower Tracker and keep the item ids from earlier runs. Every row has a stable id, so a simple de-duplication against your previous export keeps only the new ones.

Can the Instagram Follower Tracker process many targets in one run?

Yes. Put as many targets as you like in the input; the Instagram Follower Tracker handles them one after another and a failing target never stops the others.